Read:
What do you do or say to threaten someone who says that living is Christ and dying is even better? There's no leverage left to use against them.
Whatever you're honestly living for—your career, your reputation, your kids, being liked—is exactly the thing you'll be most terrified to lose. Wherever you find your meaning is where you'll always feel most fragile.
Paul's words show what it feels like to find your meaning in Christ. When your life is anchored to Jesus, you stop clinging so desperately to everything else. It simply pales in comparison.
Ask yourself, “What am I living for?” And don't answer the easy way. Don't stop at the things that sound good on paper; that would be flattering if you shared them in a group. What are you actually living for? The ugliest, most self-centered things that drive you.
Then, take whatever you named and hold it up next to Jesus. How does it look now? Is it something you can build a life—an eternity—on?
Pray: God, I want you to be my reason for living. Not one more thing on the list, but the center it all hangs on. I want to feel the freedom Paul felt, where the things I'm scared of losing suddenly don't seem so important. You're the one thing that can never be taken, and the one thing worth living for. Amen.